– Longevity report says preconceptions held by some public sector commissioners and investors about social ventures are wrong.

– Comparison with top 100 PLCs shows top 100 social ventures have better survival rates over 30 years.

– Leading law firm says making social ventures accept tougher contract terms is “unjustified and unfair”.

New research published this week challenges the ‘myth’ that social ventures are more likely to fail, more quickly than traditional businesses.

Who lives the longest? Busting the social venture survival myth was commissioned from the University of Northampton by the E3M social enterprise leaders programme, in partnership with law firm Bates Wells Braithwaite and several of E3M’s members.

It looks at survival rates of the top 100 social ventures in comparison with the top 100 PLCs over a 30-year timeframe, from 1984 to 2014.

The research found that the top 100 social ventures – including both social enterprises and charities that engaged in commercial trading – were not any more likely than PLCs to cease operating, or fail to repay investment. Nor were they short-term ventures. In fact, when compared with the top 100 PLCs over a 30-year period, the top social ventures were slightly more likely to survive in the top list.